Where is the Money Going?
Santa Monica Adds a New Twist to Crackdown on Airbnb
Airbnb officials failed to have an appreciation for Santa Monica’s innovative government model for regulating the company that not only taxed the hosts who rent out their homes but required them to be in town when occupants are there. They said that had never been done before and the Los Angeles Short-Term Rental Alliance threatened legal action. read more
Rep. Issa Says America’s Poor Are “Envy of the World”; Must Be Proud of California’s
According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), California had the fifth worst ratio of 1% income earners to the 99% as of 2012, the last year data was available. The top 1% averaged $1.6 million a year compared to $45,775 of the other 99%. And it’s getting worse—thus the report’s title: “The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2012.” read more
L.A. Times' Parent Company Is Buying U-T San Diego; Let the Layoffs Begin
Times Publisher and CEO Austin Beutner, who will be in charge of the group, said the two papers would maintain separate editorial departments. Jeff Light, president and editor of the San Diego paper, extolled the virtues of consolidation but included a blunt warning: “The business opportunity, and the journalistic opportunity, is very big. . . . Without a doubt, there will be some savings—which, unfortunately, is another way of saying layoffs.” read more
Los Angeles Sues Wells Fargo over “Pernicious and Often Illegal Sales Tactics”
Fees are a big part of the bank’s bottom line. The complaint says they are a “virtual fee-generating machine.” To facilitate payment, the suit alleges, Wells Fargo moves customer money from one account to another without permission, puts customers in the hands of collection agencies when unauthorized account fees go unpaid and fouls up their credit ratings with derogatory comments to credit agencies. read more
U.S. Appeals Court Rules Political “Charities” Must Disclose Donors to California
The Center for Competitive Politics argued that its donors’ First Amendment freedom of association was abridged by having to convey information to the state that puts them at risk of public attack. The argument was somewhat undercut by the fact that the state is simply asking for the same information already furnished to the IRS for tax purposes and, like the IRS, pledges to keep it private. read more
California Low-Wage Earners’ Reward for Higher Productivity—Less Money
California wage earners of the non-supervisory sort are 89% more productive than they were 25 years ago, but their real wages have increased just 3%. “Low-Wage California: 2014 Chartbook” calculated that real wages, after inflation is taken into account, declined 6% for the lowest 10th percentile of wage earners between 1979 and 2014. It was worse for the lowest 20th percentile, -12%, and the lowest 30th percentile, 10%. read more
City of Industry Strippers Win $6.5-Million Class-Action Suit over Club Fees
The class-action lawsuit alleged that the 249 girls were employees, not independent contractors, and were illegally forced to fork over a portion of their earnings to the club. The club claimed that it was due a percentage of tips received by the dancers to cover rent, staffing, security and advertising. The judge and jury disagreed. The law allows dancers to keep all the tip money handed to them by customers. read more
Audit Questions Why Tiny City of Industry Paid Ex-Mayor’s Companies $326 Million
The City of Industry, which is actually a narrow, 12-mile-long strip paralleling State Route 60, has around 400 or so residents and the government has been controlled since its incorporation in 1957 by what might easily be described as an oligarchy. The audit said that billings from companies controlled by the Perez family were poorly documented and could have included huge overpayments. read more
Progressive, Diverse San Francisco Expected to Be Majority White by 2014
A new report by PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE), profiles the Bay Area’s growing income inequality amid the region’s economic boom and projects a white San Francisco bastion of high-wage earners in 25 years, surrounded by increasing diversity and disparity. read more
Small L.A. County Cities Clean up by Seizing Assets in Civil Forfeitures
“These cities were also found to have contravened Federal Justice Department forfeiture regulations numerous times,” a report by the Drug Policy Alliance says. Under forfeiture laws, police and prosecutors can seize property and cash from suspects before a conviction has been obtained. The law was originally developed as a powerful federal tool against organized crime, especially drug traffickers. But then it morphed. read more
FBI Raid Disrupts Cozy 20-Year Relationship Between City Hall and Consulting Firm
The firm’s relationship with city officials is at the heart of the investigation. Until 2009, three of Urban Logic’s principals held top positions at Beaumont City Hall. Urban Logic has provided planning and development services to the city of 36,000, 80 miles east of Los Angeles, for 20 years. They also handle financial, engineering and wastewater management services. read more
Most of $100 Million L.A. Spends on Homeless Goes to Police Services
A new report from the City Administrative Officer (CAO) studied the homeless landscape in 2013 to see how Los Angeles addressed the “serious challenges” of providing shelter, mental health and medical care, protection from disease, security for personal property and other “critical matters.” What the CAO found was an emphasis was on policing, although the first attempt to quantify the city’s efforts was possible only where it was able to “estimate or track spending.” read more
Ratepayer Advocate Wants Another $648 Million from Edison for San Onofre
The Ratepayer Advocate said Edison should pay the money because of recently discovered information that the head of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) met secretly with a top Edison executive in Europe and agreed on a multi-billion-dollar framework for settling who should pay for the abrupt San Onofre nuclear plant closure: ratepayers or shareholders. Ratepayers ended up paying 70% of the $4.8 billion cost. read more
L.A. Schools Want Millions Refunded for iPads and Education Software
KPCC reported Wednesday that LAUSD attorney David Holmquist wrote in a letter to the computer manufacturer, “While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for ITI implementation, they have yet to deliver it. . . . As we approach the end of the school year, the vast majority of students are still unable to access the Pearson curriculum on iPads.” read more
Time Is Not Running Out for San Jose’s Defective Smart Parking Meters
The city copped to a dozen screwed-up meters—ones near the courthouse—and around 90 bogus tickets, which had been contested and cleared. The dozen meters have been disabled while city officials talk to the vendor about a fix. Otherwise, the city is responding on a case-by-case basis as people protest their tickets from the 1,900 smart meters. read more
State Agencies Still in “Widespread Noncompliance” with Budget Personnel Rules
Thirty years ago, California lawmakers created rules requiring state agencies to return any money to the General Fund not spent on positions vacant for more than six months, So state agencies transfer employees internally to fill vacant positions before the deadline so they show up as occupied on ledger sheets. That means the budget-strapped agencies are getting paid for more positions than were actually occupied, so they take the extra money and spend it on other things. read more